does anyone get their spirituality through nature?

[jfk1116]

I am not religious and will never be, however I am seeking a spiritual purpose. I have a great appreciation for nature, and was wondering if anybody gets their spirituality from that. Any input would be helpful! Thanks!!

[Parnatian]

There is a story about a Christian who met with an old American Indian woman and wanted to read her scriptures, to which the wise old woman replied: "You learn of the holy Spirit from words on a page which turn to dust when exposed to wind, sun and rain. We learn of the Spirit through wind, sun and rain."

In other words: one way is through fables; another way is through reality.

[Canadian Brotha]

I will take moments to appreciate nature for what it is & even meditate outside sometimes, perhaps you could try something similar. Things like taking in the moon on a warm breezy summer night during a stroll, watching tree leaves rustle & bustle on a bright afternoon, sitting by a river & simply listening to the sounds of nature, or laying down & cloud watching. The idea is to lose yourself in a bit of wonder & appreciation but not to seek any form of answer or explanation. Simply take in nature for a moment(or longer), give thanks & move on with your day

Originally Posted by Parnatian

There is a story about a Christian who met with an old American Indian woman and wanted to read her scriptures, to which the wise old woman replied: "[I]You learn of the holy Spirit from words on a page which turn to dust when exposed to wind, sun and rain. We learn of the Spirit through wind, sun and rain."

Thanks for sharing, I really like that

[jfk1116]

Originally Posted by Canadian Brotha

I will take moments to appreciate nature for what it is & even meditate outside sometimes, perhaps you could try something similar. Things like taking in the moon on a warm breezy summer night during a stroll, watching tree leaves rustle & bustle on a bright afternoon, sitting by a river & simply listening to the sounds of nature, or laying down & cloud watching. The idea is to lose yourself in a bit of wonder & appreciation but not to seek any form of answer or explanation. Simply take in nature for a moment(or longer), give thanks & move on with your day



Thanks for sharing, I really like that

thanks for the input, I do alot of those things you mentioned. I believe things happen for a reason, I just dont know why. Like I said I will never be religious, not that I have any thing against that. I need something however to have faith in, besided just myself.

[Aurora]

This is where I am at right now. Im searching. But not in any organised religion. Im interested. But would rather my spirituality come from nature and where I can make my own interpretations of what is god, what is existence etc. I do believe in evolution and science. But also believe there is something more, connected to the earth and its 'godly' nature. Mother Nature is my God!

[Aurora]

Originally Posted by Canadian Brotha

I will take moments to appreciate nature for what it is & even meditate outside sometimes, perhaps you could try something similar. Things like taking in the moon on a warm breezy summer night during a stroll, watching tree leaves rustle & bustle on a bright afternoon, sitting by a river & simply listening to the sounds of nature, or laying down & cloud watching. The idea is to lose yourself in a bit of wonder & appreciation but not to seek any form of answer or explanation. Simply take in nature for a moment(or longer), give thanks & move on with your day



Thanks for sharing, I really like that

I like this! Its given me some inspiration to feel that sunshine right now.

[jfk1116]

Originally Posted by Aurora

This is where I am at right now. Im searching. But not in any organised religion. Im interested. But would rather my spirituality come from nature and where I can make my own interpretations of what is god, what is existence etc. I do believe in evolution and science. But also believe there is something more, connected to the earth and its 'godly' nature. Mother Nature is my God!

Yep that is dead on with me!

[Anxiety75]

I find myself closer to God because of nature. But can one truly have appreciation for nature and not give credit to the one who founded it?

That's something to consider.

I know that many who have no belief in God enjoy nature very much.

Would it be a lot like getting a beautiful work of art from a talented artist and not giving thanks or credit to them-perhaps denying it even had a painter?

Food for thought.

[Meli24R]

^I see no evidence for the existance of god/gods so I have no reason to believe. If the world is so complex that it needs a creator than a super intelligent entity (capable of creating the entire universe) would need a creator as well.
I do, however, have a deep appreciation for nature. I'm lucky that I even exist and can see and feel the beauty of nature. The ocean is my favorite place to be

[Neptunus]

Originally Posted by Anxiety75

But can one truly have appreciation for nature and not give credit to the one who founded it?

Or ones.


And, yes, I do derive spirituality from nature.

[huh]

A year or two ago I probably would have said that I do get a sense of spirtuality from nature. Now I would just say that I find nature interesting, interesting in the sense of how it works. Spirituality is too vague a term for me and I don't feel anything special about nature to consider it spiritual. I guess I really don't consider myself spiritual in any sense.

[ncislover]

Generally no, but I happened on one particular spot that is full of something good...very hard to explain, i can just say it felt like magic - everything is at peace in this spot, but there is so much more to it. too much more to put into words. I plan on going back later this year to feel the magic!

(I doubt this is what you were talking about, but I think that is as close to spiritual as I can get. haha)

[Aurora]

Originally Posted by Anxiety75

I find myself closer to God because of nature. But can one truly have appreciation for nature and not give credit to the one who founded it?

That's something to consider.

I know that many who have no belief in God enjoy nature very much.

Would it be a lot like getting a beautiful work of art from a talented artist and not giving thanks or credit to them-perhaps denying it even had a painter?

Food for thought.

You can have an appreciation of nature and be spiritually connected to it and not believe in a 'creator'.

I believe in science and evolution, but Im drawn spiritualy to the Earth. I see Mother Nature.. as God. God not as the creator or a higher power, but just as Earth/Nature itself. It needs no other meaning for me.

Thats just me.

[Canadian Brotha]

Originally Posted by Anxiety75

But can one truly have appreciation for nature and not give credit to the one who founded it?

Personally I don't equate worship & spirituality, I find there to be nothing spiritual about worship but plenty of spirituality in the idea of appreciation. That is to say, a person who appreciates God if they believe he/she/it is responsible for creation makes sense to me, a person who worships seems to be acting more out of fear of rather than connection to.

I'll also note that the idea of God an an anthropomorphic spirit or being that is responsible for creation opens the option of compounding that question/theory i.e. "Who/What Created God?" and then "Who/What Created That Which Created God?" and so on

The spirituality through nature approach takes away from the idea of restrictions & debate to allow for simple appreciation & that's what I like about it. I know that I am of this Planet Earth & I know that I experience it's energy(weather & environment) in both waking & sleeping moments of my existence. Science does not dispute this either intentionally or indirectly so that leaves out that conflict. Perhaps religions and/or scriptures can be helpful when you're really debating the meaning of life(& I'll note that I often watch religious documentaries to gather wisdom from various viewpoints) but to me spirituality is about appreciation. I find that I'm appreciative of nature & I'm seeking to find appreciation of myself through meditation

[Aurora]

Originally Posted by Canadian Brotha

Personally I don't equate worship & spirituality, I find there to be nothing spiritual about worship but plenty of spirituality in the idea of appreciation. That is to say, a person who appreciates God if they believe he/she/it is responsible for creation makes sense to me, a person who worships seems to be acting more out of fear of rather than connection to.

I'll also note that the idea of God an an anthropomorphic spirit or being that is responsible for creation opens the option of compounding that question/theory i.e. "Who/What Created God?" and then "Who/What Created That Which Created God?" and so on

The spirituality through nature approach takes away from the idea of restrictions & debate to allow for simple appreciation & that's what I like about it. I know that I am of this Planet Earth & I know that I experience it's energy(weather & environment) in both waking & sleeping moments of my existence. Science does not dispute this either intentionally or indirectly so that leaves out that conflict. Perhaps religions and/or scriptures can be helpful when you're really debating the meaning of life(& I'll note that I often watch religious documentaries to gather wisdom from various viewpoints) but to me spirituality is about appreciation. I find that I'm appreciative of nature & I'm seeking to find appreciation of myself through meditation

That about sums it up for me.

[Phibes]

Originally Posted by Parnatian

There is a story about a Christian who met with an old American Indian woman and wanted to read her scriptures, to which the wise old woman replied: "You learn of the holy Spirit from words on a page which turn to dust when exposed to wind, sun and rain. We learn of the Spirit through wind, sun and rain."

In other words: one way is through fables; another way is through reality.

This disturbed me. God is real! Jesus Christ!

I'm interested in Christian & Buddhist ideals. They're quite similar, both are after peace; I think people are just blinded by all the bull**** they see on tv and all the bad stuff they hear about - there are good and bad people in every aspect of life and sometimes all we focus on is the bad and it messes up our perspective.

[Parnatian]

Phibes: "This disturbed me. God is real! Jesus Christ!"

Dear Phibes,

Your feeling of offence are understandable.

I read the account of the Christian and American Indian woman many years ago from a source that quoted it as an actual occurrence (and knowing a bit about both the beliefs that the two parties would have, there is no reason it would not have been a very common occurrence). Certainly you are not along finding the Native American greatly offensive. Your sentiments were shared by most Christians who came to the new found America.

The Native American Indians, generally, were very humbled by reality, by life and nature; and had a sense of the Divine which was vast and endless. They felt that the "Spirit" permeated everything as its foundational reality. This of course was radically contrary to Christian beliefs which minimize and reduce the Divine to a circumscribed male deity.

Interestingly, the Bible mentions "The Alpha and Omega" (a term which agrees with the Indian point of view), but then spends the rest of its pages carving out the antithesis.

It's understandable why so many find comfort believing they know where God begins and ends, as they then are made special by being included in the limited circle of friends. An infinite Divine, has no such walls or conditions, and is rather perfectly un-conditional: a sense that can be very healing, or a concept many find to be grossly offensive......to the point that in the past they deluded themselves into believing that the native Indian was a "Godless Savage", no more than dog that could be killed without sin or remorse. What people have done to keep their cherished limited image of the Divine intact, is sadly amazing.

p

[Phibes]

Hey man, no hard feelings aye, I shouldn't have said that because we all have our own beliefs and it needs to be respected.

I don't know too much about the native American Indians but today I watched Twilight the movie for the first time, and there were some native Indians in that who were in some sort of wolf clan and then there were the vampires.
I did some research on American Indians today and what roll the wolf plays in there belief system and i found all sorts of other things, it's cool.

[Parnatian]

Dear Phibes,

It's important that we are conscious of our feelings. You honestly shared that you were disturbed. I truly applaud your openness and honesty. Please, remain open to your feelings, and be with them, look at them with no judgment.

This can be very healing.

p